Over 20 inmates of Tihar jail allegedly inflicted injuries on themselves in a bid to desist the prison staff from carrying out searches in the barracks for recovering mobile phones.
The incident took place on Wednesday in one of the wards of central jail number 8/9, the same jail where gangster Tillu Tajpuriya was killed allegedly by four members of the rival Gogi gang on May 2.
Four of the inmates with injuries were referred to DDU hospital. According to the officials, a search was conducted around 5.30 pm on Wednesday on the basis of information about usage of mobile phones in that particular ward which resulted in recovery of one keypad phone and one improvised weapon.
Subsequently, those monitoring the jail CCTV control room noticed unusual movement of inmates in the barracks from where the recovery was made.
Further inquiry was conducted and inmates were questioned, which resulted in recovery of one SIM card and an improvised mobile charger, a senior jail official said.
During questioning, another inmate admitted of possessing a phone which he was asked to hand over.